Principal Joe Clark who inspired film 'Lean on Me' has died

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FILE - In this Dec. 21, 1987, file photo, Eastside High School Principal Joe Clark is pictured at a rally by student supporters in Paterson, N.J. Clark, the baseball bat and bullhorn-wielding principal whose unwavering commitment to his students and uncompromising disciplinary methods inspired the 1989 film Lean on Me, died at his Florida home on Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020, after a long battle with an unspecified illness, his family said in statement. He was 82. (AP Photo/Peter Cannata, File)